Sucevita, RO

Sucevita, RO

Almost Like An All Stained Glass Look

Painted monasteries! The concept of religious devotion and the beauty of living in a monastery are evident in Romania. Since ancient times, people have lived lives that are secluded, committed to God. Their house of worship, the church, is the center of their belief and is a place to be decorated and adorned. Life in a monastery might be monotonous and focused toward the afterlife, yet beauty is still appreciated in the here and now. The monks or nuns, in their wish for a better life, painted their churches, inside and outside. Eight of these old, painted monasteries are on the UNESCO heritage list. Saints, biblical scenes, religious concepts, etc. are painted in fresco form all over the churches. The church looks like a precious jewel, all aglow from far away. Those churches, those ‘jewels’, are hidden within high walls inside fortified monasteries. The whole setup is medieval looking and the concept, while sound during their construction, now seems baffling.

Route 17A, a scenic route on the map, turned out to be a lovely, narrow road and was in better shape than we anticipated. Of course it was very bumpy in spots. We are far from large cities, far from ‘civilization’ and looking back a few hundred years, deep inside the forests. Even today you get the feeling of remoteness, of being alone.  We did not want to see all eight of the monasteries, just a few and get an impression of them. 

Entrance To Moldovita Monastery

Very Colorful Frescoes 

Lovely Roof Line, More Living Quarters

Monks Or Nuns Living Quarters 

Moldovita was the first of them and I was duly impressed. I could get into the feeling of how it must have appeared years ago. The layout is like a small, walled castle, even a very small town if you will, all surrounded by a very high wall. The church is in the center with the monks or nuns living in buildings surrounding the church. Fruit trees, gardens, wells, self-sufficiency were all within the walls.  It was a defensive set up, a protection from marauders or thieves. It offered a quiet, bucolic life, allowing the occupant communication with God and peace. I could see the attraction. I could also see the dangers. Far away from your neighbor, far away from everything, with roving eyes of the needy or wanting, the monasteries were a target.



Over The Top Decorations Inside

The Church Is Almost Like A Chapel 

Defensive positions for the monasteries were selected because they might have to withstand the onslaught of the Ottoman Invaders. Stefan the Great, who won 34 out of 36 (46 of 48?) battles against the Ottoman Empire, and his illegitimate son, Petru Rareș, supported the building of those monasteries. They were built as a ‘thank you’ to God for giving them the fortitude to win their battles. They were very religious men.

It was a different time in the 15 and 16^th Century. Religion was at the forefront of their lives. We looked at the physical manifestations of those times, those walled, painted, jewel-like monasteries. It was a step back into history and quite pleasant because we come back and live our lives in today’s world. I am not so sure I would like to have lived then. 

The surrounding town of Moldovita established itself alongside the Monastery with supporting people like blacksmiths, coopers and other tradesmen who lived there. Albeit the town had no wall surrounding it, the Monastery did.  I imagined how they must have felt when the Ottomans attacked. A horrific experience I imagine it to be.  Gruesome times, especially when one thinks of the way prisoners were treated.

We spent about 2 hours at the Moldovita Monastery and then searched for our next one, the Monastery of Sucevita. Our planning was well done; we booked a hotel just a few miles away from the Sucevita Monastery but had a very difficult time finding the hotel. We rode past the place 3 times before we recognized it as our hotel. It was actually a riding academy that had a hotel on the premises. Who knew?  No wonder we seemed stunned.  Of course we asked for directions, and people even told us. But I could not understand their language. Only after I heard the world Equus, did I put it together. The Romanian Language is the closest thing to the way the old Romans talked. It is a ‘modern’ Latin. Romania is NOT Slavic; it is a roman based language. It might as well be THE Roman (Latin) that was spoken then and has now been transformed into what we call Romanian.



Entrance To Sucevita Monastery 

Sucevita Monastery Church 

Very Ornate, Very Colorful, Very Over The Top Decorations

6 Meter (18 feet) Walls Surround The Monastery

Many  Saints And Holy Men

After we checked in to the Equestrian Hotel we had some time on our hands and we had to find a place to eat as well. So why not visit the next Monastery, the Monastery of Sucevita, just down the street a bit. So, off we go in riding gear and yes, the place is open. After paying our admission to the nun at the front gate we enter the high walled place and find an even ‘gaudier’ painted church than what we just saw in Moldovita. Yet the layout, the basic set up, was very similar and I did not feel I had to explore this place for another 2 hours. Sure, we took a tour, even went to the museum they had established inside a building, saw the gilded garments, but that is not what interested me as much. I wanted to get the feeling of medieval atmosphere and this place, this Sucevita Monastery, while beautiful, did not have the same ambiance for me. Carol took a stack of pictures; she ambled around and watched the other tourists click away with their cameras. I got the idea of those monasteries at the first one and two in one day might have been too much for me.

We could not find a place to eat so asked the people at the hotel where to go. They offered to cook for us and we gladly accepted. We were the only people who ate at the hotel that night.  The place was not too busy. It might be because nobody could find the place. I told them about better signage, but did they listen?  We left the next morning for more monasteries.

Vatra Dornei, RO

Vatra Dornei, RO

RO is the international abbreviation for Romania. 

We are on the road today, with VatraDornei being the closest, largest town near the painted Monasteries in the North of the Country (Bucolic), our targets for the next few days. We are in the Carpathian Mountains. We are not on a race in Romania, so we ride about 5 to 6 hours a day and then stop and smell the roses. Vatra Dornei is just a normal town. Sure they would love to be a ski resort and maybe they are, but for me it is a stopover. We were lucky to have found a hotel that is modern, air conditioned, with secure parking, elevator, breakfast included and near town; a really nice place: HotelBelvedere.

Riding a motorcycle needs to be an adaptive sport. Just because you can ride in, let’s say, Germany or the U.S, does not mean you know the small intricacies of riding in Austria or Hungary or Romania. There is something different here. Just like there is a difference between Mexico and the U.S.

I once rode from Mexico into Guatemala and noticed a difference there, too. It happens almost instantly: just cross a border and something changes. The effect is immediate: Canadians drive and ride differently than their Southern Neighbors. It is difficult to put into words but I feel it. So my awareness needs to adapt. I need to be ready for new things. In Romania the roads are narrow and winding. The highways are not international interstates with wide aprons on the side of the road. The roads here are the old roads, established over centuries, just paved over. They still twist their way through the center of towns, up and down mountains and are used by dogs, cows and horse drawn carts.

Horse's Pace Of Life 

Anticipate the unexpected in Romania, you will even see geese or pigs standing in the road, right after a curve, looking at you and seeming to ask: “What are you doing here on my road?” Riding a bike is full of small adventures. Six hours of full attention to the road is about all I can give of myself before I feel a fatigue creeping in.

So we don’t push ourselves to make it to the ultimate goal.  We know our limits and bunk down even if we are near to where we have to go. I find it better to see the attraction we headed for the next day. Fresh like a daisy I get better impressions of whatever we came to see. How many miles I ride a day is totally irrelevant! What matters is that we ride safely and get there. Time seems to have a different value in Romania. The horse carts I mentioned are slow but seem to be on a mission. Just imagine commerce being done at their speed. Of course there are many trucks on the road but still, there is also the time-forgotten way of one step at a time, living at a horse’s speed.

The towns, similar to Hungary, have a layout I do not understand. When going into a town, I see deep ditches on the left and right side of the road. The town road is just two lanes, and then comes the deep ditch. Beyond that is a narrow strip of land and then the houses start. The houses are built in a row. Yes you can call them row houses but each house is different, yet they are very close together or even touching each other. The strip of land in front of the house is sometimes made into a garden, other times it is a parking spot. Small bridges cross the ditch; each house has their own bridge from the road to the house. It’s a strange look and I noticed it first in Hungary, but now I see it in Romania, too.

I can understand the purpose of the ditch in heavy rains, it drains the roads, it might even have drained effluents years ago, but this is 2015. Still, those are historic setups and do not seem to change. I cannot understand why a town was laid out that way, though.

Idyllic? It Was A Nice Ttown !

A Well Deserved Drink 

Vatra Dornei is not laid out that way. Somehow this town is like other European towns, a bit old and yet it has its own charm. A pedestrian street (no cars allowed) full of outside restaurants is in the center of the town, we had dinner there. A wide shallow river flows through the city, flanked by railroad tracks. People walk instead of driving cars. The general feeling is of contentment with a dash of ambition for something new. I like this town.

Sure I yelled at the woman who was parked, blocking the entrance to our hotel, leaving us vulnerable on the street amid a construction zone. She had plenty of room to park anyplace else, but no, she was lazy and had to park in the most convenient spot, disregarding the difficulty she caused for anyone else. People are people, including me. I get all steamed up when I see idiots and I let them know it.

But I smile at myself too, for being the other idiot.